Goodbye Ty Lee
by Little-charm
Summary: Azula, Mai and Ty Lee visit an earth kingdom village to find out where the avatar is. When Azula hurts a young girl, Ty Lee questions Azula's methods. What will happen next.... [Ty lokka]
1. Chapter 1

**I don't know how this idea came into my head, but I hope it's good! I was supposed to be studying for an exam instead of doing this...it's based on Ty Lee (obviously from the title) so I hope you enjoy it!**

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Azula, Mai and Ty Lee stepped off of the metal fire nation ship and onto the wooden docks of a small earth kingdom town. Azula had a sadistic smile on her face as she noticed all of the peasants staring in horror at her. Just the way she liked it. Mai stared around at the boring, dirty town and wondered if anything would amuse her here; she highly doubted it. Ty Lee was oblivious to the scared faces of the villagers and was enjoying the beauty of the mountains ahead.

Azula hated speaking to people so beneath her, but she was desperate. "Where is the Avatar?" said Azula in a steady, frightening tone. Nobody answered her question, the only sound that could be heard was the water crashing against the wooden posts of the docks. "Do I have to ask again?" Azula said this with a little more agression and impatience. Her anger turned into an expression of happiness as she stepped closer to a mother and her young daughter. The girl grasped her mothers leg tighter as Azula approached, her eyes filled with fear.

Suddenly, Azula pulled the girl away from her mother and bent down to her level, her arm around the girl's neck. "NO!" screamed the mother, as two fire nation soldiers held her back. A small fire began to grow on Azula's finger.

"Tell me where the Avatar is and the girl won't get hurt" said Azula. Ty Lee saw the pain in the mother's eyes and the tears in the little girl's. She felt for them.

"Are you sure this is the right thing to do, Azula?" questioned Ty Lee.

Her head whipped around to face Ty Lee. "Are you questioning me?" said the infuriated Azula. Ty Lee hated seeing Azula angry, even more than the little girl crying.

"No, I'm sorry Azula," Said a solemn Ty Lee. A smile came across her face. "What was I thinking? It's the only way."

Azula nodded and turned back to the villagers. "Now, where is he?"

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It was silent. Ty Lee looked across the dark room to see Azula and Mai sleeping peacefully in their beds. What was wrong with her? She never questioned Azula's actions, so why was this so different? It was the fear in the villager's eyes. So much pain was caused by Azula, that's why she was questioning her.

Ty Lee was thinking about the little girl, she was burned. She had to hold back from saying anything to Azula about it; she didn't want to get hurt either. A feeling of disgust came over Ty Lee, just thinking about what Azula was doing to people. She had never felt this towards her before, so why now?

She decided she couldn't handle this any longer. How long would it be before she spoke out against Azula again? Ty Lee didn't want to take that chance. She began to quietly walk out of the room, wondering if she'd ever return. She realized something, Azula would find her if she ran away.

Ty Lee walked back into the room and found one of Mai's knives. She held the blade to her arm and let the blood fall to the floor, biting her lip to fight back tears. Hopefully this would lead them to think she was captured, or dead. Ty Lee wiped the blade on her pants to remove the blood and placed the knife down where she found it. She took one last look at Azula and Mai and left their room, for the last time.

Ty Lee quietly crept past the sleeping guards on Azula's ship. She knew they would be in trouble when Azula finds out she's missing. Ty Lee balanced along the edge of the ship, silently and effortlessly diving into the water.

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When Azula woke up, she could sense something wasn't right. She looked across the room to see Mai still sleeping and turned to where she thought Ty Lee would be. She was gone. Azula walked over to the bundle of crumpled sheets on Ty Lee's bed and found a drop of blood. Her eyes widened as she followed the trail; it stopped in the middle of the room.

Azula stood next to Mai's sleeping figure. "Ty Lee is missing." There were no signs of weakness or worry in her voice. "Mai!" yelled Azula impatiently. Mai's eyes opened to find Azula standing over her. This is going to be an interesting day, she thought to herself.

"Ty Lee might be captured." Azula said matter-of-factly. Mai just nodded and got up. They both changed and started to walk out of their room, coming across the two guards standing tall outside the entrance to their chamber. They bowed quickly as Azula turned to face them.

"Tell me guards; did you notice any strange behavior last night?" asked Azula.

"No princess, no one has come in or out of this area all night." one of the guards said with a hint of fear in his voice. Azula noticed his fear and took advantage of it.

"I think you might be wrong. Ty Lee is missing." The fear in both of the guard's eyes became more noticeable as Azula said this. "Leave my ship, and never come back. You have dishonored yourselves and me by letting this happen." said Azula with anger in her voice.

"Yes princess." said the ex-soldiers in unison.

Azula faced Mai, "We will continue our quest to find the Avatar." Although Mai found this painful to leave Ty Lee behind, she just nodded and followed Azula to the captain.

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Ty Lee swam towards the little cove away from the fire nation ship. "This will have to do for now." she said to herself. She sat up on the rock overlooking the glistening water created by the new-found sun. Azula's ship was in view, and it looked like it was moving. Ty Lee's heart stopped as she thought the ship was coming towards her. She was as good as dead now.

She sighed deeply as she realized the ship started to turn in the other direction. It was cold in the shaded cove, so Ty Lee held herself to find warmth while watching the ship disappear into the distance. All she ever knew, all she ever was, was leaving. Ty Lee began to sob as she thought about her old life. If she ever went back…she just couldn't. As she took a deep breath in and out, Ty Lee let go of her past. She wasn't Ty Lee anymore, she was nobody.

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**Hope you liked it, now go and review!**


	2. Chapter 2

**Second chapter!!! Sorry it's so short, but it doesn't fit in with the next part of the story. Enjoy!**

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Ty Lee waited until it was dark to walk into the small earth kingdom town. It was too much of a risk for anyone to notice her. Ty Lee walked through the back streets of the town; they were dark and empty. She looked up to the sky to see thousands of stars staring back at her. She then noticed the line connecting two buildings up ahead with clothes hanging from them. Ty Lee then looked down at her beautiful pink outfit. If she wanted to blend in, she needed to get rid of it.

Ty Lee was having second thoughts about stealing these clothes. It wasn't about actually being able to get to them; it was about taking something that wasn't rightfully hers. Ty Lee put her hands on her hips thinking about what she was doing, when she felt a lump in her pocket. Picking it out, Ty Lee revealed two gold pieces and suddenly didn't feel bad about taking the clothes.

She swiftly jumped from wall-to-wall until reaching the ledge of a window near the line. She easily balanced across the thin wire, leaning down to get the dress. She walked back to the window and placed the two gold pieces on the ledge. She then jumped down onto the alley and began to change into her new clothes.

Ty Lee looked into a room, finding a burning candle sitting on a table. She took the candle and went back into the alley, deciding to burn her pink outfit that was holding her back. Usually, Ty Lee would be devastated to find this outfit even missing, but today she burnt it without a second thought. As she walked out into the main street of the town, Ty Lee noticed her regal hair in the reflection of a puddle. It didn't match her outfit, or her new life. She took out the numerous ties holding her plait in place and let her hair fall. Now, Ty Lee was really gone forever.

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**Do you like? I felt like if Ty Lee was going to change, her clothes needed to too!**


	3. Chapter 3

**Here's the new chapter! Thankyou H2P2 for adding this story to your favs. This chapter has some characters from the fortuneteller episode just to let you know. Well, here's the chapter, enjoy!**

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It felt like she had been walking in the forest for days. She grasped her stomach feeling the hunger settle in. How long had it been since she ate? Ty Lee was used to the royal treatment, especially when traveling with Azula. She wasn't used to this.

Ty Lee put her hair into a loose plait on the side of her head to give her neck a break from the heat. She didn't even know where she was. Suddenly, Ty Lee walked into a clearing and saw a beautiful little village sitting in front of her and a dormant volcano towering over it.

She decided to listen to her stomach and walk towards the village. To Ty Lee's surprise, she saw two young boys outside the village with a basket of food. As she got closer and closer, Ty Lee noticed they were twins. One boy had an overly happy smile on his face – almost creepy – and the other boy had a look of confusion and a sense of frustration about him.

"See! I told you Aunt Wu was right when she said we'll meet someone new today!" said the boy with a smile on his face to his twin brother.

"Fine, you were right." sighed the other boy as he folded his arms in defeat.

"Aunt Wu said we should stand outside our village and offer food to a weary traveler," said the boy who first spoke "I hope your hungry!" he said with a cheesy grin on his face. Although Ty Lee was confused with what was happening, and who Aunt Wu was, she quickly took a loaf of bread from their basket and began chewing furiously. She sighed with relief as she swallowed the last of the bread. She then saw a flask in one of the boy's hands. "Water!" she cried happily as she grabbed the flask. They looked at her in confusion, amused that someone could be so excited over something so simple.

Ty Lee suddenly realized what she was doing and looked at the boys, her cheeks red with embarrassment. "Sorry," she said "I haven't eaten since…I don't even now how long it's been!" She smiled uncomfortably.

"That's ok!" they said in unison.

Ty Lee thought for a moment, "So who is Aunt Wu?" she asked.

Both of the boys smiled, "We'll take you to her."

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Ty Lee walked into the dark, but cosy room and sat down on a cushion. Behind her was a beautiful screen depicting a dreamy lake and town surrounding it. A young girl with unmanageable hair and a gap in her smile walked into the room. Not many people would see it, but Ty Lee thought she was cute. "Hello, my name is Meng. Who are you?" she said curiously.

"My name is Ty…" a mortified look settled onto Ty Lee's face. What was she supposed to do? She couldn't give Meng her real name. "…M…Mae. Yes. My name is Ty Mae!" she said quickly.

"O….kay…." said Meng, wondering why she was stuttering over her name "I have to go now. Nice meeting you Ty Mae." Meng left the room leaving a painful silence for Ty Lee.

"Great!" she whispered to herself as she whacked her head at her stupidity. "What an original name!" Ty Lee quickly composed herself as she heard a door slide open. It revealed a graceful old lady with a welcoming smile on her face.

"I've been expecting a new visitor today," she said "You can call me Aunt Wu."

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"Pick a bone and throw it in the fire." Aunt Wu said encouragingly. Ty Lee picked a bone and threw it in the fire, looking to Aunt Wu and wondering why she was doing this. Aunt Wu understood this look and started to explain. "The heat makes cracks in the bones, and I read the bone cracks to tell your future."

Aunt Wu carefully studied the bones to find some meaning. Ty Lee stared curiously at the cracks made by the fire. "I can see that you are struggling, you're holding on to the past." Aunt Wu's voice startled Ty Lee. She stared at Aunt Wu waiting for the rest of her reading. "There are many decisions that you will have to make soon. If you choose the right one, you will discover your old allies becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming allies."

Ty Lee's eyes widened, wondering if Aunt Wu was talking about who she thought she was. The Avatar.

"You have the ability to change the outcome of an important event if you choose the right path, Ty Mae." Aunt Wu said with a smile "You can make a difference."

Ty Lee knew what she had to do.

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**I'm not sure if this is very good, but it sets the idea for the rest of the story. Do you like it? Review? Yes? No? Maybe?**


	4. Chapter 4

**Sorry that it's taken me so long to update, it's because of a mixture of school, being lazy and discovering Naruto and watching about 5 episodes a day lol……..here's the chapter!**

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Ty Lee left the village of Makapu after Aunt Wu's reading. She was given a small bag with bread and water that would last a couple of days. She walked for hours thinking about the reading. _You will discover old allies becoming enemies, and old enemies becoming allies._ It was clear where she had to go; she had to find the Avatar and his friends.

"Maybe I'll see that cute guy." She whispered to herself as a smile crept across her face.

Ty Lee sat under the shade of a tree to think about where she was headed; she admitted to herself that she hadn't thought about that yet. They could be anywhere; after what happened at Ba Sing Se, Azula, Mai and herself had been searching for the Avatar all over the Earth Kingdom. It would be hard, but she had to try.

She looked towards the setting sun. If there was any hope, it was looking for an earth kingdom town in the west. It was near the ocean, and hopefully she could get some information about where the Avatar was last seen. Happy with her new decision, Ty Lee stood up and flipped in the air with joy. As she landed, she realised that this was the first thing in days that she was sure about. It gave her a new-found happiness, one that she'd never experienced. She was going to help save the world.

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Ty Lee's eyes were heavy, along with the rest of her body. She was still travelling through the forest that was becoming darker and darker; she would have to stop soon. After a few minutes, Ty Lee found a large tree with a place big enough for her to rest near the top of it. She skilfully somersaulted, flipped and jumped her way from branch-to-branch until reaching her destination. As soon as she caught her breath, she lay down her head and looked at the branches above her, catching glimpses of beautiful stars against a black sky through them. Ty Lee fell asleep to the sweet sound of the wind dancing throughout the forest.

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Her eyes opened to the sun peeking through the trees. It was already noon. Ty Lee swiftly sat up to look at her surroundings; she was still in the tree. As she realised how long she'd slept in, a sharp pain ran up her spine. She wasn't used to sleeping on something so solid and uncomfortable; after all, she was fire nation nobility. _It's already midday; I should start moving._ As Ty Lee stood up, she looked out to see an earth kingdom town, on the water too. _If I get there soon, I might be able to find someone who knows where the Avatar is._ Ty Lee jumped down from the tree and began her journey to the earth kingdom town.

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It was dark when Ty Lee reached the town of Kamu. Despite this darkness, the town was full of life and light. She walked along the busy main street with markets on either side. She was lost in a sea of people and noises, until she overheard someone saying something about the Avatar. Ty Lee's eyes lit up with joy as she got closer to the large, tall man talking about the Avatar; she wanted to find out more.

"Yeah, I'm talking about the Avatar! I've seen him and his friends in the back streets of Kamu, I think they're trying to come through here unnoticed. I don't know why though." The man started to walk away down the street, Ty Lee needed to get to him, it was her only chance of finding out more.

"Excuse me!" said an ecstatic Ty Lee. The man turned around to see a young girl smiling at him; he looked at his shoulder to see her hand on it. Ty Lee could sense his frustration and quickly removed her hand.

"What do you want?" said the man towering over Ty Lee. She wasn't intimidated by this, but decided that she should get to the point quickly.

"I overheard you talking about the Avatar and I was wondering where you saw him and his friends." she said quickly. The man just stared at her in amusement. "I-I've met Aang and his friends once or twice and I wanted to catch up with them again."

"What's in it for me?" said the man with a devious smile. Ty Lee had nothing to offer the man, she thought for a moment.

"I could work for you!" Ty Lee said happily. The man just nodded at this and leaded her towards an alley.

"I saw them this morning walking through that door there." He pointed to a large door that looked like a barn. Ty Lee nodded and thanked the man, promising to come to work for him in the morning. This was it; she was finally going to meet the Avatar and his friends. It was different this time though; she was coming to them as an ally.

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Ty Lee was surprised to only find Appa when entering the barn. He was sleeping peacefully and wouldn't be happy if he was disturbed. Ty Lee sat down next to Appa and stared at him in awe. She had seen him before, but not up this close. _"He's the last of his kind,"_ she thought to herself _"just like Aang."_ Ty Lee felt a wave of guilt go through her; the fire nation wiped out an entire race of air benders. Was it somehow her fault? She didn't have much time to think about this as the large, heavy doors opened to four tired people. Ty Lee looked at them happily, while they looked at her in confusion wondering who she was. Toph suddenly realised who it was because she could see with her feet, while everyone else just saw an earth kingdom girl. She quickly trapped Ty Lee in a layer of earth.

"What are you doing Toph? She's not trying to hurt us or anything!" yelled a confused Aang.

"We've met her before," Toph said matter-of-factly "she's on Azula's side." After hearing this, Sokka walked up to Ty Lee and examined her face.

"She doesn't look like anyone I've met before." he said with a dumbfounded look on his face. Ty Lee giggled at this. "What's so funny!" yelled Sokka in frustration.

"You _have_ met me before," she said "I'm Ty Lee!" After she said this, everyone was shocked and angry.

"What do you want?" asked a furious Aang. "If you've come to capture me, I won't let you!" Ty Lee looked down at her captured feet.

"I don't want to hurt you, I want to help you." she said quietly.

"Like we're going to believe that! It's probably just a trap!" yelled Katara, stepping closer to Ty Lee's face.

"It isn't," said Toph "she's telling the truth Katara." Everyone stared at Toph in shock; they then looked to Ty Lee.

"Is this true?" said Aang.

"Yes."

Toph immediately let Ty Lee out her earth bending hold. "Sorry about that," said Toph uneasily "you can never be too careful."

"It's okay," said Ty Lee happily "I would have done the same, if I was an earth bender that is!"

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**Sorry about the crappy ending, but it'd just get even more awkward-sounding if I kept writing. Hopefully I'll get the next chapter up quicker.**

**REVIEW!!!!!**


	5. Chapter 5

**Haha yeah I'm not very good at updating, sorry! There's some Ty Lokka near the end of this chapter, so if you don't like this pairing, please don't kill me! Here's chapter number five….**

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As everyone sat down in the barn, Ty Lee began to tell everyone how she had gotten to this point; about Azula burning an innocent girl to get answers, her escape from the fire nation ship and the reading in Makapu. Everyone listened intently to Ty Lee's recount and was happy that she had become an ally.

"We've been to that town before!" said Aang over-excitedly. "We all helped save them from the volcano erupting." Ty Lee smiled at him. Aang wasn't gloating or being arrogant, he was proud that he had been able to help someone in need.

"Are they still all relying on that cuckoo Aunt Wu's readings completely?" said Sokka, rudely disturbing the calm silence. Ty Lee looked at Sokka in shock; he was so blunt about everything.

"Well, I don't think they _completely_ rely on her, but I'm not sure. I wasn't there for very long."

Sokka smirked and crossed his arms. "Maybe some of my reasoning rubbed off onto them!" he said arrogantly. Katara was angry at her brother's rudeness and whacked him on the head. Toph couldn't hold in her laughter and it soon caught on to everyone in the room. Except for Sokka.

"Ouch! What was that for?!" screamed Sokka while rubbing the newly created bump on his head.

"You're future is full of struggle and anguish, most of it, self inflicted." said Katara mimicking Aunt Wu's prediction. A few giggles escaped from her surrounding friends.

"But I didn't put that bump on my head, YOU DID!" yelled an irritated Sokka.

"Oh, but that's where you're wrong, big brother!" said Katara wisely. "You acted like an arrogant idiot, so I had to put you in your place."

Sokka stormed out of the barn slipping out a few insults along the way aimed at Katara and Aunt Wu. Everyone just laughed.

"Is he going to be ok?" said Ty Lee, half worried and half amused.

"Snoozles will be fine," said Toph "he'll come back and apologise eventually."

"We should probably all get some sleep if we want to leave early tomorrow. We need to find Aang a firebending teacher." said Katara after letting out a yawn. Everyone nodded in agreement. They started to settle down to sleep, until Ty Lee remembered the man who helped her find Aang and his friends. She promised she would help him in the morning.

"Can we maybe leave a little bit later in the day? I promised this man I would help him work in the morning. He helped me find you after all!" Everyone agreed that it would be fine. They even offered to help the man as well. After a long day and conversation, everyone finally fell asleep. Even Sokka came back into the barn, still a little sore, and fell asleep.

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The next morning everyone got up and set out to help the man on his farm just outside Kamu. Everyone helped the man without any problem; other than the million complaints from Sokka. Everyone learned to ignore it. The man was grateful for their help and gave them some food for their journey. Aang, Katara, Sokka, Toph, Momo and the new member of the group Ty Lee rode on Appa across the deep blue water. They were headed for the fire nation.

Ty Lee knew a fire bender that might be able to help Aang. Although this was a big help, everyone still needed to blend into the fire nation and become just another person.

Ty Lee looked at her newly found friends. Aang and Katara were sitting on Appa's head, holding onto his reigns, Toph was gripping tightly to the saddle and her face was a few shades whiter, Momo was shovelling through the bags of food and Sokka was lying over the edge of Appa's saddle and looking across the ocean. Ty Lee decided to sit closer to him and start a conversation. She still thought he was cute and wanted to get to know him better.

"Hey!" she said vivaciously. Sokka was surprised to see a smiling face only inches away from him. He didn't want to admit it, but he was kind of scared of Ty Lee. He sat up and smiled confidently back at her.

"Hi…" He didn't know what else to say. He'd never really had the chance to talk to her and it was awkward; especially when she was usually trying to kill him.

"I'm sorry about trying to kill you and your friends a couple of times." It was as if she could read his mind.

"That's ok, you were just doing what you thought was right." he said. Ty Lee smiled, suddenly at ease knowing he forgave her.

"When I was in that town with Azula and Mai and she threatened that child, it made me think." Sokka looked up at Ty Lee's face; it showed signs of pain. "That little girl was scared, so was her mother. They really didn't know the answer to what Azula wanted. Azula knew that," Ty Lee closed her eyes tight and tears began to force their way out "but she still hurt that girl." All Sokka could do was listen. Ty Lee pictured the moment in her head.

"_Now, where is he?" Azula had a smirk on her face while holding a flame to the innocent girl. The girl tried to struggle out of her hold and away from the flame, but Azula gripped tighter. Ty Lee could see the girl's mother held back by fire nation soldiers; she was out of control. _

"_Let her go! Let my baby go, you evil woman!" yelled the mother. Azula just looked at the mother and smiled. Ty Lee could just see the fear in the young girl's eyes, her skin burning._

"_Here, you can have her." Azula said sadistically. The mother and child wailed as the villagers gathered around to help the girl. "Let this be a reminder to all of you, don't go against the fire nation. We have no mercy."_

Sokka was surprised for the second time today, when he suddenly found Ty Lee tightly wrapping her arms around him and sobbing. He hesitantly put his arms around her and tried to comfort her. "_Whatever happened with that little girl must have been bad."_ He thought to himself.

"You know what Ty Lee," said Sokka. She looked up at him, still tightly in his hold, still crying. "I'm glad you found us." Ty Lee smiled. She buried her head into his shoulder and felt his steady heartbeat. "I had a feeling you were a good person. Besides, you smile too much to be on the bad guys' side." Ty Lee wiped her eyes and showed Sokka that smile he was talking about.

"I'm glad I found you too." Once again, Sokka found Ty Lee in his arms. It was strange, but wonderful at the same time. They had only met as friends yesterday, but he felt like he had known her forever.

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**Awwwwwwwwwwww! I know she's spilling her heart out to him, but she'd probably do that to any stranger, that's just Ty Lee lol. She's so cute **


	6. Chapter 6

**Thankyou to Luiz 4200, H2P2, Aniek90 and KT123 for reviewing my story! I can't believe I've actually updated this quickly; but I won't be able to for a while (going somewhere without a computer for a while). Here's the new chapter, I hope that you guys are liking this story.**

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They were still flying. They had been for almost a full day and hadn't seen land. After Ty Lee had gotten closer to Sokka, the whole group was silent. Toph had overheard their conversation and Aang and Katara were oblivious to everyone else on Appa; they were in their own little world. Momo was talking to Appa, keeping him company. It was awkward. Ty Lee, Sokka and Toph were sitting so that they were disconnected with everyone else.

Sokka was staring out to the setting sun, trying to figure out what he was feeling. He was confused. It just felt right comforting Ty Lee. He wanted to get to know her better. He looked at Ty Lee and realised she was staring at him. They both looked away, embarrassed and happy at the same time. Sokka had a feeling she liked him.

Ty Lee was having the same problem. She already knew he was cute; that was the main reason she liked him at first, but there was something else. He made her feel good, like no one had for a long time. The last time she had felt so accepted and appreciated by someone was in the circus; but that life was gone now. All thanks to Azula. _"What am I talking about?"_ she thought to herself _"He just gave me hug and said he was glad I was on his side, I'm sure everyone feels that way."_ Ty Lee's thoughts were interrupted when Sokka sat down next to her.

"So… what's the plan for us?" said Sokka. Ty Lee stared at him in confusion, did he mean _them_? "I mean, we have to get into the fire nation unnoticed, we'll need to find somewhere to get new clothes or something. Right?" Ty Lee's heart sank, _"of course he's talking about the group, what was I thinking?"_

Ty Lee put on a brave smile and nodded. "We can stop at the next markets just outside of the fire nation and find some new clothes." He smiled back at her and began heading back to his spot on Appa's saddle.

"Sokka?" said Ty Lee. He turned around to look at her. "Thankyou…for before." He smiled sympathetically.

"That's ok." He sat back down in his spot and stared at the sky. The sun had gone and was replaced with a beautiful moon; Yue.

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It was still dark when they reached land. The docks of a small earth kingdom town welcomed the group. The markets were lively and bright, a contrast to the travel they had experienced for the last few hours.

"Dirt sweet dirt!" yelled Toph happily. Although she was used to flying on Appa, she still felt safer on the ground. Everyone laughed at Toph's happiness; that was until she shook the ground to stop their laughing.

"Ok," said Katara "We'll need to get some supplies and new clothes. Me and Aang will go and get some food and water while the rest of you can go look for some fire nation clothes. Appa and Momo will stay here until we come back. Meet back here by tomorrow morning." Everyone nodded and began to walk towards the markets.

"Oh, Aang! Look at these!" yelled Katara, yanking Aang's hand towards a stall. Now it was Ty Lee, Sokka and Toph left.

"Great, I get stuck with the love birds!" mumbled Toph unhappily. Both Sokka and Ty Lee heard this comment, but pretended to ignore it while blushing furiously. Toph made little comments all along the way when searching for a shop; Sokka and Ty Lee just tried to ignore them. "Why am I even here? I can't _see_ the clothes that we're looking for! I'm not exactly much help to you guys."

Sokka stopped and turned to Toph. She could sense that he was angry at her, but that's what she was aiming for. It was just too much fun hearing his high pitched yells aimed at her.

Nothing happened. She was expecting him to explode at her, but he held back.

"There's a clothes shop there, lets go check it out." he said this so calmly, it was as if he hadn't heard Toph complaining for the entire time they had been walking. Little did Toph know, he was trying to keep his cool in front of Ty Lee. It was hard because he was screaming at Toph inside; he just didn't want to make too much of a fool of himself in front of Ty Lee.

They walked into the stall to see an array of colours; one that they couldn't find was red. Sokka realised this was going to be harder than he thought as he walked out of the stall.

"Wait for a second Sokka." said Ty Lee. He turned around to see her smiling. "I'll ask the shopkeeper to help me!" Sokka nodded hesitantly.

"You know it probably won't work?" he said. Ty Lee just nodded and skipped happily towards the shopkeeper. Sokka had a little bit of anger bottled up in him. "This'll probably just waste our time." he said under his breath.

"You'll live, snoozles." said Toph. Sokka jumped at this when he realised that she was standing right next to him. Before he had time to yell at her for scaring him, Ty Lee came up to them with the shopkeeper.

"I am able to make some clothes for the purpose your friend has told me, but you will have to come to my house later tonight. I don't want to get caught." said the timid lady with a small build. After getting directions to her house and confirming other details, they headed back into the markets to find Aang and Katara.

"Wow, I didn't think we'd get help that easy." said Sokka.

"All you have to do is ask, it makes things a lot easier!" Ty Lee chirped. He was a bit annoyed at her, especially because he isn't able to get help _that_ easy.

"So what 'purpose' did you tell the lady we needed fire nation clothes for?" asked a curious Toph.

"Well, I said that someone we know was captured and we want to find them." Ty Lee wasn't very comfortable with telling them her lie.

"Why did you say that?" asked Sokka, genuinely confused.

"Well, if we told her that we were with the Avatar, it could come back to get her later if she's confronted by the fire nation. I don't want that to happen."

Everyone nodded and agreed. They then began searching for Aang and Katara.

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After telling Aang and Katara the details and putting the food with Momo and Appa, they set off for the lady's house. It was a quiet trip, until Katara realised something.

"Um…..I think we might need to do something about hiding your arrow Aang." she said quietly. Everyone stopped and felt stupid about not realising it earlier. Ty Lee found a green piece of material and skilfully made it into the shape of a hat. Everyone stared in amazement (except for Toph) at the hat.

"Wow! Thanks Ty Lee!" said Aang excitedly. She smiled, happy that they appreciated her work.

Sokka lead everyone into a narrow street and knocked lightly on a small, wooden door. The door opened slightly to reveal a nervous woman looking at her visitors; she made sure no one else was around before letting them in.

Katara walked next to the lady. "Thankyou for helping us, I'm Katara. This is Aang and you've already met Sokka, Toph and Ty Lee." The woman nodded and pointed towards a dark room filled with many different coloured fabrics, threads and other things.

"My name is Keala, and I'm glad to help." Her eyes were kind and sympathetic as she looked at the group of young travellers in front of her. She began searching through the numerous piles of fabrics to search for tones of red and gold. A small pile lay out in front of the group as Keala began searching for a few more tools to help start on their clothes.

"I'll need to take all of your measurements." Keala said. She began with Katara and worked her way through the group. When she was finished, she began to come up with designs for their outfits; it was as if she was in her own world and didn't see anyone around her.

"Um…" said Aang hesitantly, trying to get Keala's attention. She looked up, startled by the noise. "How long will it take?" he said.

"Oh, I'm sorry I didn't tell you earlier, but it might take a couple of hours. I suggest that you go and find something to do while I'm working. It's not very exciting watching this." Everyone agreed with this and left Keala to her work.

When they left Keala's house, Sokka began to hear his stomach talking to him.

"I think we should get something to eat." Sokka said while grabbing his noisy stomach.

"We just ate a couple of hours ago!" said Katara. "How can you _still_ be hungry?!"

"I have a big appetite! What are you gonna do?" Sokka said sarcastically.

"We can do something else while we're waiting," said Katara "you're probably the only one that's hungry anyway."

"Actually…" said Ty Lee. Everyone turned to her. "I'm kinda hungry too." She smiled sheepishly.

"Well, you and Sokka can go get something to eat. The rest of us can just go back to Appa and Momo." Katara was a little amazed that Ty Lee could be hungry after only a few hours, but she just hid this thought as everyone except for Sokka and Ty Lee began walking back to their meeting spot.

There was an awkward silence as Ty Lee and Sokka stared at the disappearing group ahead of them. They were alone, _together_. Ty Lee smiled at this thought.

"Why are you smiling?" said Sokka inquisitively.

"Oh… I'm just thinking about the food we're gonna be eating." Ty Lee was surprised at how easily she convinced Sokka. _"He must be hungry!" _she thought.

They soon found a small shop and sat down at an available table under a window. Soon an older lady came up with a smile on her face to greet them.

"Hello, I'm Taesa. Would you and your girlfriend like something to eat?" Sokka and Ty Lee looked at each other with an obvious expression of embarrassment and confusion.

"Um…she's not my girlfriend." said Sokka. The lady nodded and took their orders, leaving the two alone. Ty Lee was uncomfortable with the silence between them so she began to think of a conversation.

"So… you're from the south pole. What's it like there?" she said hesitantly. Sokka gave her a confused look.

"Um…it's…cold…and icy." After giving her this answer, he realised how stupid he sounded. Ty Lee smiled and began looking out to the moon.

"It looks so pretty." she whispered. Sokka was confused at what she was talking about, but then saw her eyes gazing at the full moon.

"Yea, it is." Ty Lee could sense something was wrong by hearing his voice. She looked towards him and saw a frown. Maybe it was her turn to make him feel better…not that she knew what he was sad about.

"Do you wanna talk about what's on your mind?" she asked, careful not to sound intruding. He looked at her and gave a slight nod.

"The moon spirit was killed at the north pole. Someone I know took its place." He looked down at the table; he didn't want Ty Lee to see him so upset. "It's all my fault. I couldn't protect her."

Ty Lee held his hand that was on the table; she squeezed it to show him she was there to listen. He looked up at her; she had a smile on her face.

"I'm sure she doesn't think that. She did what she had to do; you couldn't have changed that." Sokka gave her a weak smile; he had a new friend that understood him. Suddenly things weren't looking so bad.

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**OMG I think this is the longest chapter I've written! Hope you guys liked it!**


	7. Chapter 7

**Sorry for my laziness. I'd like to say it won't happen again, but it probably will. I didn't really know where the story was going, but now I do! It's going to end in a couple of chapters because otherwise I'll never finish it…lol. Well, here's the chapter.**

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Ty Lee looked across Appa to meet Sokka's engaging blue eyes. She felt heat rise across her face as he smiled at her, keeping a steady gaze. He broke the gaze and began to stare out across the ocean. _How can he do this to me?_ Sokka seemed to have an affect over her, but she liked it.

Trying to push this thought away, Ty Lee began to think about her life in the fire nation. She wondered if Azula and Mai actually thought or cared about her, if her parents knew she was 'missing' and if she'd made the right choice.

An image of the little earth kingdom girl being burnt ran through her mind. She could still hear the high pitched screams as the girl's mother tried to bring her to the water. This girl's life was ruined. Ty Lee knew she had to help innocent people like this girl; no one deserved that fate.

She _did_ make the right decision, and she was now helping the avatar and his friends. They were headed for the fire nation island of Jin Sho; she had an old friend who might be able to help.

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They landed at Jin Sho when the moon had been in the sky for an hour, it contrasted to the heat of the sun and everyone appreciated it. Aang and the rest of the group decided to stay on the outskirts of town until morning; it was also safer for Appa out here, considering he was a big give away to their identity.

It wasn't long until they had set up camp and everyone sat around the fire to figure out their plan. "I have an old friend named Sashin that lives on this island. He's one of the best fire benders in our nation." Ty Lee turned her gaze to Aang and directed her speech at him. "With some persuasion from me, he might train you, Aang." He smiled happily at Ty Lee, but still had a hint of sadness remembering that he didn't want to firebend again.

"How can we trust someone from the fire nation?" Sokka rudely interrupted. Ty Lee was expecting a response like this.

"You trust me, _don't you_?" Ty Lee gave Sokka a reassuring smile.

"Well, yes… but this is different!" Sokka said while clenching his fists.

"How?" said Ty Lee with a hint of annoyance.

"Well, he'll probably just hand Aang right over to the Fire Lord once we go to him. What's the point?"

"We don't have to tell him about Aang straight away, he can keep his identity hidden." Ty Lee wondered why Sokka was getting so angry over this, but decided to leave her question unanswered; she wasn't in the mood for having him yell at her. "We have to think of names for everyone. We'd just be handing ourselves over to Ozai if you kept your real names."

"I can be called Kuzon!" said Aang happily jumping up and down.

"O…kay." said Toph in confusion. He was acting strange over a name, like it meant something to him. "How about I can be called…." she stood up and pointed a finger to the air for emphasis, everyone was staring at her "….TOPH!" She sat back down and crossed her arms; a smirk was visible across her face.

There was silence as everyone stared at Toph. Katara's eye began to twitch. "Are you even _TRYING_ to co operate Toph?"

"Geez, calm down, I was just joking! You can call me Tama. Is that good enough co operation for you, _Katara_?" There was an angry undertone to her words.

Before the argument could get out of hand anymore, Ty Lee stood between the two glaring girls and began to laugh nervously as a distraction. "S-so, Sokka, what do you want to be known as?" Luckily, this got the two girls to stop their bickering to focus on Sokka.

He shrugged his shoulders. "Well, I was thinking something along the lines of Foo-foo-cuddly-poops." Everyone stared at Sokka, the only sound surrounding them was chirping crickets, adding to the stupidity of what he had just said. "What?" asked Sokka "Can't I try and joke too?"

Everyone just walked to their tents, leaving Sokka to stand by himself by the fire.

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The next morning, everyone began to walk into Jin Sho's main town. Sokka was now known as Soto, after numerous failures of him picking his own name. Katara was given the name Sui.

The town centre was bustling with life and markets. They were surrounded by happy families and couples enjoying the vast amount of foods and other trinkets, while the store keepers could see dollar signs all around. Ty Lee led them to an upmarket area of town and soon to a large iron gate. It was intricately decorated with dragons and swirls.

"This is Sashin's house. You guys just let me do all the talking." Everyone nodded at Ty Lee's suggestion. Ty Lee knocked on the gate and they were soon welcomed by a long, thin man.

"Welcome to the Faan residence. What is your business here?" He had a sense of annoyance and arrogance about him.

"Hello! I'm an old friend of Sashin's, my name is Ty Lee." She said this with a wide smile.

"Please come into the courtyard. I'll see if he's available." The annoyance in his voice was still there as he said his last words to the group in front of him.

A few minutes later, a young man with long brown hair put into a pony tail came out of the front entrance. He had a smile on his face as he spotted Ty Lee and began to make his way over to her. Before he had the chance to take another step, Ty Lee ran up to him and wrapped her arms around him tightly.

"Sashin! I've missed you so much!" He laughed lightly and put his arms around her.

"So I see you're still very energetic, Ty Lee. I've missed you too." They stayed in there friendly embrace and forgot everything around them; nothing could interrupt that moment.

"Ahem." Well, maybe except for Sokka. "Are you guys finished?" he said with the slightest anger visible in his voice. Sashin let go of Ty Lee and looked at Sokka and the many other people surrounding him.

"Oh, sorry. I didn't notice Ty Lee had friends with her!"

"That's ok. I'm Ka- I mean Sui, nice to meet you." Katara almost gave away their identities, but luckily stopped in time.

"These are my friends from the circus. We've been travelling together for a while now." Ty Lee smiled nervously while everyone glared at Katara. "This is Kuzon, Tama and Soto." Sashin nodded to everyone and offered them to walk inside.

"So, what do you all do in the circus?" he asked. Everyone stared nervously and shocked at this question. They completely forgot that they'd have to actually _explain_ stuff.

"W-well, you see…" Ty Lee tried to think of things that would best suit everyone. "Soto and Sui are siblings, they have an act together. They… juggle! Yes, they juggle." She nodded furiously and Sashin was slowly convinced.

"Tama works with animals and Kuzon helps with the setting up of our shows, but he wants to able to work with fire eventually." Everyone was nervous at the explanation Ty Lee was giving, but became a little bit relieved when Sashin seemed to believe it.

Before everyone knew it, they were sitting around a large formal table eating a beautiful feast. Ty Lee and Sashin caught up and seemed to be talking intimately, while everyone else seemed to be enjoying the food. Well, everyone but Sokka. He didn't like to see Ty Lee talking to _him_ so much. _What's so great about him anyway? He's just some firebender!_ He glared at Sashin furiously, even though he didn't notice.

Sokka could feel someone poking at his shoulder trying to get his attention. He turned to his left to see Katara staring at him with a smirk on her face.

"What do _you_ want?" snapped Sokka angrily.

"Nothing, it just seems like you might be a little _jealous_ Sokka." He glared at her angrily and then turned his gaze to his plate. This was going to be a long day.

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**Sorry if you don't like my bad attempt at humour… oh well. Review?**


	8. Chapter 8

**Thanks for all the reviews guys! It makes me happy (and motivated to actually do this). Here's the next chapter…**

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Ty Lee stared in awe at the sight in front of her. Sashin had taken everyone on a tour around Jin Sho and they were now looking at the most overwhelming view. They were somewhere near the middle of the island; one of the few places that seemed to be completely untouched. The group looked out onto a large lake. It glistened from the beams of light that escaped through the vast layer of trees overhead, while the songs of thousands of birds could be heard from all angles. The dirt beneath their feet was soft and inviting and they were surrounded by lively wild flowers.

"This place is amazing Sashin!" Ty Lee said while unconsciously inching closer to him. She leaned her head on his shoulder and sighed happily. Sashin looked down at her excited eyes trying to take in their surroundings. "I'm so happy I got to see you again. I've missed spending time with my best friend!"

"I've missed you too." He replied while staring out at the view again.

Aang and Katara were already in the water splashing around while everyone else sat down and took in their surroundings. Ty Lee and Sashin were happily talking in their own little reflective world (again) while Toph and Sokka sat quietly.

Sokka was annoyed. Every time he saw Ty Lee giving Sashin attention and vice versa, he felt these emotions of anger and frustration bottling up inside. Sokka looked around to see everyone enjoying themselves. Everyone was having a good time…except for him. _Why am I getting so angry? It's not like I _like_ her or anything…is it? She's only talking to her friend she hasn't seen for ages, so why do I feel jealous? What is wrong with me? It's not like I-_

"This place is awesome! Don't you think so Sokka?" Toph was digging her feet into the dirt. He was happy for her to get him out of his thoughts; he needed to get away from them. He sighed and looked down at the ground. "Look, I can tell you're jealous of that Sashin guy, but try and look happy, would you?"

Sokka looked at Toph inquisitively._ How the hell does she do that?_ He didn't want to talk about it with Toph (and he could tell that she didn't want to either) so he tried to change the subject. "How can you think this place is so good when you can't see it?" After the words left his mouth, he regretted letting them slip out, but at least the topic wouldn't be about him.

Surprisingly, Toph just laughed. "I thought you'd know by now, Sokka. I-can-see-through-my-feet." She laughed after emphasising her words. "Besides, the dirt here is really soft and…kind of nice." He stared at her lying in the dirt as if it were heaven. He shook his head and stared out across the lake; ridding his head of any thoughts.

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Ty Lee looked over at her friends. Everyone seemed to be having a good time talking at the lake; Aang and Katara were laughing and talking, while Toph was enthusiastically talking to Sokka. _This is my chance to talk to Sashin about helping Aang._

"Sashin?" Ty Lee noticed that this got his attention quickly. "You know how Kuzon wants to learn fire bending?"

"Yeah, what about it?" he said contently.

"Well, he asked me if…if you could maybe give him a hand." She looked hopefully up into his eyes to see him nod happily at her.

"I don't see why not. It'd be good to help someone out."

"Thankyou so much!" she squealed excitedly while hugging him tightly. He was taken aback by her quick movements, but soon returned her hug.

Sokka tried to steer his thoughts clear of Ty Lee, but it was getting increasingly hard, especially when he happened to look over in her direction to find her _hugging_ Sashin. He decided to leave the lake. He didn't want to end up doing anything stupid – like punching Sashin – and having everyone question him. Sokka thought he would get away unnoticed, when he felt someone's hand on his shoulder. He turned around to see Toph looking up at him.

"Where do you think you're going, Sokka?" Toph asked sarcastically. _How could I forget that she can see me moving…again!_ "Are you really _that_ jealous that you can't even be in the same area as them?" Sokka was annoyed at how Toph could read him like a book.

"What are you talking about?" he mumbled through gritted teeth. He shrugged Toph's arm off of his shoulder and began walking back to the centre of town. Toph decided to let him go; she wasn't in the mood for Sokka's whining (as funny as it was at times). He just needed to be alone.

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Aang concentrated on feeling the flow of heat in his body. He let the pressure build and build until it couldn't be held back anymore. A burst of flames suddenly appeared in front of him and soon vanished into thin air. He looked over excitedly at Katara, who gave him a proud smile of approval.

"Good job, Kuzon! I don't think I've met anyone who's learnt to fire bend this quickly before. You'll be doing amazing tricks in no time." Sashin gave him a nod while smiling complacently at his 'student'.

Before his first lesson with Sashin, Aang was having second thoughts about learning fire bending. After hurting Katara last time, he didn't trust himself. Aang was convinced after a long talk with Katara that it was ok; she didn't want it to be the reason he felt unable to learn fire bending.

"Ok, now we're going to learn some more advanced moves!" Sashin soon got into his stance to show 'Kuzon' the next move.

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Ty Lee had been walking around all day looking for Sokka. The sun was now setting and a festival was beginning in the centre of town. _Where is he? He's been really distant these past couple of days. I hope he's okay…_

Her thoughts soon drifted away when she saw Sokka leaning against a wall leading into an alleyway. His eyes were downcast and his brows were furrowed, as if he was angry or deep in thought. Ty Lee hesitantly walked up to him, not sure what to make of his expression.

"Sokka?" she whispered slowly, almost sympathetically to whatever he was feeling. His eyes shot up to look into Ty Lee's brown ones. His expression hardened and then turned down to look at the ground again.

"Shouldn't you be with _Sashin_?" he mumbled under his breath.

Ty Lee seemed to ignore this comment and drilled her worrying gaze into him. "Are you okay Sokka? You seem really distant lately…" she stopped talking to see him clench his fists tighter. "It's like I haven't seen you all week." Sokka snorted.

"Maybe it's because you've been spending all your time with _him_." Ty Lee had never seen this side of Sokka, and she didn't like it. The way he hissed those words made her squirm. Suddenly, she began to realise why he was acting like this. _Could he be…_

"Sokka?" Ty Lee looked intently at him. "Are you…_jealous_?" Sokka looked up at her with a panicked expression.

"Was it _that_ obvious?" Ty Lee smiled sympathetically at his response.

"Sokka," she sighed deeply "You don't have to be jealous. I do like Sashin, he's been my friend since we were children…" at this point, Sokka began to give up hope. "_But_…" He looked up at Ty Lee with a confused expression. "I really like you, Sokka."

His heart started beating faster as he realised the words she was saying. She began to move closer to him so they were only inches apart. Ty Lee could feel his breath on her face as he began to lean into her too. They closed their eyes as Sokka closed the space between them, pulling Ty Lee into a soft, loving kiss. After a while, they pulled back, looking into each others eyes. Sokka pulled her into a tight hug and rested his head on her shoulder.

"I really like you too, Ty Lee."

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**Awwwwww! Review please!**


	9. Chapter 9

**Woops…it's been a while. Lol sorry. Happy New Year! And thankyou to all those people who are reviewing this story :)**

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It had been two days since Sokka and Ty Lee had got their feelings towards each other out in the open. It had been a long, awkward two days that involved very little talking between the two, large amounts of blushing and many curious stares from everyone else because of their strange behaviour. Everyone wanted to know what was going on, so they decided to come up with a plan to alleviate their growing curiosity. Sui (Katara), Kuzon (Aang) and Tama (Toph) sat in the garden, watching the sun wane behind the distant mountains.

"Ok, we need to found out what's wrong with Sokka and Ty Lee," whispered Katara "It's obvious that they like each other, but they haven't talked or acted normally for two days now."

Toph smirked. "Well, Sokka's obviously been jealous of Sashin since we got here…" She rubbed her chin in thought. "That explains for his strange behaviour, but not for Ty Lee's…" Toph suddenly had a mischievous smile plastered on her face. "Maybe we should just spy on them."

"Why don't we just ask them what's wrong?" suggested Aang. Katara nodded in agreement, while Toph crossed her arms and mumbled something about Aang ruining her fun. After figuring out who was going where, they set off to find Ty Lee and Sokka.

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She had been siting on her window-sill overlooking the town since morning. So much had been happening in this short amount of time that she didn't have much of a chance to think about everything. She had seen the true nature of the Fire Nation; people were hurt just for their gain, just so they could be seen as the strongest of the four nations. Ty Lee knew before the incident with the young Earth Kingdom girl that it was the Fire Nation's nature: that event just made her see it in a different light. She wanted to know if that girl was doing okay. She wanted to help her, show her how sorry and burdened she felt by what happened to her. Ty Lee needed to help set things right.

The Fire Nation, the people she thought were her family and friends, had proved themselves wrong.

_I wonder if they care that I'm gone…_

She highly doubted that Azula was capable of caring that she was gone. But…Mai might. She barely showed any emotions, so Ty Lee would never know how Mai took her 'death/disappearance'.

What about her family?

They probably didn't mind; just one less daughter to worry about. They were all the same anyway. Well, except when Ty Lee ran away to join the circus, trying to find a way to be different. Her father successfully covered up the scandal to save his reputation within the Fire Nation. The one thing she wanted them to notice was her need for difference, and the need for them to accept her as an individual. She smiled as she realised her parents _have_ to accept her as an individual now, especially when she decided to go against everything she was raised to be. Well, that is _if_ they find out.

Ty Lee was so proud, so happy to know that she was doing something right, helping the Avatar and his friends.

Then there was Sokka…

He made her feel good. He accepted her, even though it would seem impossible considering his hate towards anything to do with the Fire Nation. Sokka noticed that she was different from them, and she was grateful for it. And that kiss... it reassured her feelings even further.

The past few days were extremely awkward for Ty Lee. She decided it would be best if they didn't tell everyone about their 'relationship' so the focus would still be on their task at hand: getting Sashin to understand his important role of teaching Aang fire bending. Both Sokka and Ty Lee were trying to hide any hints that they had these feelings for each other. This resulted in the awkward moments of Sokka and Ty Lee trying to ignore each other. _Hopefully no one's noticing…_

Her thoughts were soon interrupted by knocking on her door. Curious as to who it could be, Ty Lee got up from her seat at the window-sill and headed for the door. She opened it to find Katara with an odd smile on her face, as if she was trying to figure something out.

"Hey Ty Lee, I was wondering if maybe I could talk with you for a bit." Ty Lee gave her a small smile and let her in.

"What did you want to talk about?" asked Ty Lee inquisitively.

Katara looked out the window uncomfortably. "Look, I don't know you that well, but I was wondering if something was wrong. You've been acting… different these past couple of days."

"W-well, not really. I've just been thinking about everything that's happening and I guess it's just showing…" Ty Lee hoped that was enough of an explanation for Katara, she would feel too uncomfortable talking about Sokka with his younger sister.

"Oh…ok." Said Katara hesitantly. She started walking towards the door. Ty Lee let go of a breath she didn't know she was holding, relieved _that_ topic didn't come up. Katara stopped for a moment and turned to face her again. "Ty Lee?"

"Yeah, what's wrong?" she asked while trying to decipher Katara's expression.

"Nothing… it's just that, I can tell you like Sokka…" Ty Lee could hear her heart beating after knowing what Katara discovered. "And I want you to know I'm ok with that." She gave Ty Lee a sincere smile and began walking towards the exit again.

"Thankyou" said Ty Lee as she saw Katara's retreating form leave the room.

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Off in another part of the Faan residence, Sokka was thinking about what was going on in his life. He was thinking about Ty Lee and the kiss he shared with her the other day. He was thinking about how he wanted to experience that again and how he wanted to share more experiences with her. The kiss was good physically, but it also made him realise other things…

It made him realise that Ty Lee was helping him get over his stereotypes of people. Just because someone comes from a certain place, it doesn't mean they are always the same as the people from that place. There are always exceptions.

He never thought that he of all people would learn to trust and become close to someone from the fire nation. He never thought he'd accept someone like her… but he did.

It seemed like Sokka was loosing hope in the world, even with the Avatar nearby. He kept loosing people he loved, people he wanted to protect but couldn't. Ty Lee was starting to help him put the pains of the past behind him. She was helping him with focusing on the future, and how much they could change it.

"Found him Aang!" said a voice that Sokka knew too well. Suddenly Toph and Aang appeared in front of him; Aang looking uneasy and Toph with a satisfied smirk on her face. "We've been looking for you, Sokka. We want to ask some questions." Toph said in her usual blunt persona.

Aang suddenly stood in front of her and looked at Sokka with an unnaturally large smile on his face. "Hehehe, just ignore her Sokka." He then turned his attention to Toph. "This isn't an interrogation, you know!" he whispered pleadingly. Toph just shrugged and let Aang take over.

"Well, Sokka…um…w-we've noticed that you and Ty Lee have been acting weird lately. You're both ignoring each other and….um, well….we were wondering….you know, if-"

"Ugh!!" interrupted Toph agitatedly. "Get to the point Twinkle toes!" Aang flinched at her anger and couldn't form a sentence – this was an uncomfortable topic for Aang. Toph decided to take over again; Aang was taking too long and dragging this simple question out. "What's going on with you and Ty Lee?" she said, relieved that Sokka finally understood what was going on. Sokka looked like a deer caught in head lights at this sudden question.

"Well…me and Ty Lee kind of…um…wereallylikeeachother." The last part of his sentence seemed to come out as one big, muddled word.

"We already knew that Sokka, but why have you two been avoiding each other?" Toph really wanted to know what was happening and fast.

"Oh, well, we didn't really want anyone to find out so we could focus on everything else that's been going on. But I guess that didn't really work, did it?" he sighed in annoyance and walked away from two very confused people.

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"Sashin?" Ty Lee cautiously asked, a bit unsure if she should disturb him. Sashin was sitting in his study, writing what looked to be a report. His dark brown eyes that were previously focused on the parchment looked up to Ty Lee. He responded to her with a smile and motioned for her to sit down. "I was wondering if I could talk to you about something… it's kind of hard for me to talk about, because I'm not sure how you'll respond to it." Sashin's brows furrowed in confusion and curiosity towards Ty Lee's nervous, almost scared speech.

"Ty Lee, you know you can talk to me. I know we haven't really been in touch these past few years, but I'd still like to think I'm your best friend." He gave her a reassuring nod and smile to continue with what she was attempting to say.

"Do you trust me Sashin?" Ty Lee sighed before starting to talk again. "Do you trust my judgment?"

"Of course I do Ty Lee." Sashin said this reassuringly, but was confused as to where Ty Lee was going to take this conversation.

"Do you trust me even more than the Fire Lord?" There was a moment of silence; he was unsure of how he should answer this question.

"Yes, I do…but what does that have to do with what you're going to tell me?" Sashin said with a worried tone.

"It just might make it easier for me to tell you, that's all…" Ty Lee left the conversation there for an awkward silence to take place; no one was sure what should be said. Ty Lee was still thinking over how she could tell Sashin what was happening, while he was waiting for her to give him some insight into what was going on.

"Well, I think I might start by telling what's been happening up until this point." Sashin just stared at Ty Lee with a confused expression, still unsure as to what was happening. "Well, the truth is, about a month ago now, Azula invited Mai and I to help her hunt down her brother and the Avatar. We were asking around at many different Earth Kingdom towns…" she sighed in sadness at having to revisit this event again. "At one of the towns, Azula burnt a little girl to try and get information out of the villagers when it was obvious they didn't know anything… That's what led me to runaway from Azula, to try and get away from what the Fire Nation was doing."

"I…I don't…"

"It's okay, you don't have to say anything to that. Besides, I've got a lot more to tell you."

Sashin's eyebrows raised in response to what Ty Lee said. _What has been going on this past month?_

"Well, I found this fortune teller, who told me I can help change the outcome of something important. I understood that I had to help set things right in the world…"

"Where are you going with this?" Sashin didn't mean it in an impatient way, he was confused.

"I need to help stop the Fire Nation from taking over the world. That's why I tried to find the Avatar and help him out."

"Wait, what?! The Avatar?!" Sashin rose from his chair and paced around the room in confusion, frustration and worry. "Do you know how much trouble you're in when they find you?! Were you even thinking?!" Ty Lee just sat there and let him get his frustration out; it wasn't worth talking to an angry person. She was taking a big risk, for all she knew, Sashin might tell the Fire Lord and hand them over… But, there was a chance that he wouldn't.

"So I'm guessing Kuzon is actually the Avatar?" Sashin said this in a softer voice while returning to his chair. Ty Lee showed her surprise at how fast he came to that conclusion, but quickly hid it and nodded solemnly. She felt so bad that she had to put all of this trouble onto him, but they needed more help.

"I'm so sorry Sashin, and I can understand if you want to take this information to the Fire Lord…I was just hoping that maybe you would understand the pain that this is causing for everyone and that maybe… you might trust me." Ty Lee looked down to her lap; she didn't want to see the betrayed look on Sashin's face.

"I…don't want to betray the Fire Nation…" he whispered. Ty Lee looked up to see him with a pained look. "But you are my best friend, I don't want you to get in trouble." She smiled up at him, hopeful. "I can understand why you want to stop what the Fire Nation is doing, I never really thought about what happens to the other nations until hearing what you've said to me. It might take me a while to think it over…but I want to help."

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**God you people probably want to kill me… oh well, would you like to review:)**


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